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MasterCard announced Monday the successful testing of the ‘MasterCard Chip Payment Application’ on the MULTOS operating system. MCPA is a chip-based application that enables an issuer to support MasterCard-branded credit and debit transactions as well as Maestro and Cirrus-branded debit transactions on a chip card. This first ever test of a debit/credit application on a truly global platform is an important milestone in the evolution of a smart card industry looking to embrace open industry standards. The MasterCard Chip Payment Application or MCPA was tested on the MULTOS platform in order to demonstrate the global interoperability of both the payment application and the operating system itself. U.K.-based Midland Bank announced yesterday it will be the first bank to commence a live trial of MCPA, planned for late summer 1998, in over 400 retail outlets in that country. Meanwhile, MasterCard recently completed an upgrade of the BankNet authorization and clearing network to support chip-based debit and credit transactions.

ICVERIFY and First Data Merchant Services Corporation announced yesterday their joint release of ICVERIFY for Windows, merchant software enabling acceptance of business-to-business purchasing cards. FDMS will make ICVERIFY Purchasing Card capable software immediately available through their alliance bank partners and other merchant processing clients. The ICVERIFY for Windows Purchasing Card Capable software, which runs on Windows 95 and Windows NT, enables merchants to accept Visa and MasterCard purchasing cards, as well as other credit cards, ATM/debit cards and check transactions. ICVERIFY for Windows Purchasing Card Capable is the only purchasing card product sold by FDMS, which will provide 24-hour help-desk support for merchants using the product.

Fans at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium will spend less time waiting in concession lines and more time enjoying Padres games thanks to a new smart card system installed by Diebold and Glendale Federal Bank. At the April 7 home opener, fans were able to purchase disposable, stored-value cards and use them instead of cash when making purchases, greatly reducing the time spent waiting in line.

“No one likes to stand in line, especially when they know they might miss a big play,” said David Bucci, group vice president, North American Sales and Service, Diebold, Incorporated. “This card system gets fans back to the action more quickly since stored value cards can shorten transaction time to less than 5 seconds. When you add that up for every person in line, that is a tremendous time savings.”

The decreased service time also increases concession sales since more people can be served in less time.

When making a purchase, the customer places the card in a reader at the concession stand. Food service personnel ring up the purchase and the sale amount is displayed on a reader facing the customer. The customer presses a button to indicate that the amount is correct, completing the sale and deducting the amount from the card. Diebold’s iqStored Value Software drives the transaction processing network and collects the data on each purchase for settlement purposes.

For the initial installation, 20,000 smart cards were ordered and all concession areas on the field level were equipped to accept them. The team store in the stadium and a second store in Encinitas, approximately 20 miles away, also accept the cards. There are several terminals located throughout the stadium where patrons can check the value remaining on their card. The Diebold installation was part of a complete renovation of the field level area which was made to enhance the fan experience.

The disposable cards can be purchased at locations on the field level in denominations of $25 and $50. There are four different cards, three with individual photos of Padres team members and one with a team photo, making them collectors items. All season ticket holders were issued a $5 team photo card to encourage them to try the new system. To promote the system and their banking services, Glendale Federal offered a $25 card to bank patrons opening a new checking account.

In addition to sports stadiums, Diebold smart card technology and system integration expertise is also used in a variety of other settings including the 1996 Olympics, college and corporate campuses, community libraries and financial institutions to automate transactions and reduce cash handling.

Glendale Federal Bank is California’s leading community bank, serving the business and consumer banking needs of Californians through 191 banking offices and 26 loan offices. Customers can reach the bank by calling 1-800-41FEDUP, or get information through its Internet site at .

The City of Curitiba, Brazil has chosen Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals to provide 30,000 municipal employees with a smart card which functions as a local government ID and access card, a payment card for retailers, and a passport to preferential services with a participating bank. These applications will be followed by electronic ticketing for local bus services, which will operate in contactless “walk by” mode. Starting in 1999, the program will be extended to families of municipal employees, and then to the city’s entire urban population of 1.5 million citizens, making Curitiba the world’s first city-wide showcase for the convenience and flexibility of smart cards.

Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals and Cyberpro Technologies announced Monday the launch of North America’s largest smart card sponsorship program. About 120,000 members of the amateur Quebec Soccer Federation will be given a Schlumberger smart card loaded with promotional offers from McDonald’s restaurants and other QSF partners. At registration, all soccer players, coaches, referees and volunteers from over 400 clubs across the province of Quebec will be issued individual cards valid for a year. The cards will also be used by players to register at selected tournaments. These cards will be accepted at all 210 McDonald’s restaurants in Quebec, as well as at participating movie rental outlets from the Super Club Videotron chain, a hotel chain, various sporting goods stores and other local sponsors across the province. All participating outlets will be equipped with a Schlumberger MagIC 9000 card reader which will process the cards, select promotions and keep track of members’ purchases.

Twelve industry leaders yesterday released a new technology specification that helps software developers create smart card applications that can be used across a variety of business and consumer devices such as PCs, network computers, ATMs, POS terminals, set-top boxes and emerging handheld devices. The new technology, ‘OpenCard Framework 1.0′ , resulted from work done by an ad hoc industry group committed to simplifying the use of smart card technology across different manufacturers’ systems. This working group has now formalized its relationship as the OpenCard Consortium, whose initial members include: Bull Personal Transaction Systems; Dallas Semiconductor Corporation; First Access; Gemplus; IBM; NCI; Netscape Communications Corp.; Schlumberger; SCM Microsystems; Sun Microsystems, Inc.; UbiQ Inc.; and Visa International.

PaylinX securely manages real time authorizations, settlements and reporting for conventional credit, corporate or GSA purchasing card transactions concurrently originating from any mix of Site Server 3.0, call center, interactive voice response or point-of-sale purchasing venues. In single node configurations, the scalable architecture reliably delivers multi-threaded performance of 3-7 second authorization response times and throughput of 8,000 to 10,000 transactions per hour.

Through direct, high speed access to Visa’s backbone network, the PaylinX ISDN Payment Pipe notably equips Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition end users and Internet service providers with the leverage to establish flexible, iCommerce operations plans featuring unlimited merchant bank and merchant account structures. Bob Lozano, PaylinX President stated, “This approach shifts control of credit card management and associated interchange overhead to the merchant … delivering unprecedented choice in merchant bank relationships … while driving down the cost of doing business over the Net and other client interaction venues.” Market introductions for SSL3, EDS, American Express, MAPP and other international gateways are slated to extend the portfolio of PaylinX Payment Pipes(TM), as well.

PaylinX for Site Server and the PaylinX V2.5 family of payment servers are generally available and currently shipping. PaylinX Corporation is an innovator in the field of electronic commerce and the leader in enterprise payment servers. PaylinX software is available from PaylinX Value Added Resellers, PaylinX OEM Partners or directly from the company. PaylinX Corporation is a privately held corporation headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri USA and can be reached at 314-692-0929 or [http://www.paylinx.com][1].

PaylinX is a registered trademark and PaylinX for Site Server, Payment Pipes and “Electronic Commerce. Today.” are trademarks of PaylinX Corporation. Other trademarks, service marks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

International Verifact Inc. announced Monday that its Latin American joint venture, IVI Ingenico Inc., has entered into a strategic alliance with Datagrams S.A. to market Datagrams products in Latin America through IVI Ingenico’s distribution network.

Under the terms of the agreement, IVI Ingenico will become Master Distributor of Datagrams products – Dataloyalty and Datacash – in Latin America, while providing marketing, support and maintenance services on a local basis.

Dataloyalty is a smart card based turnkey system that allows a retailer or financial institution to implement a loyalty program. The Dataloyalty system includes all the logical components of a system, including host software, terminals, communications and cards.

Similarly, the Datacash system was designed to be a closed electronic purse scheme with targeted markets such as stadiums, parking garages, home delivery and tourist resorts. Like Dataloyalty, the Datacash system includes all the necessary components for operation. Both products run on Microsoft Windows 95/NT platforms.

Jorge Fernandez, Executive Vice President and General Manager, IVI Ingenico commented that the agreement with Datagrams is consistent with the company’s vision of providing turnkey systems and solutions, rather than just being a terminal vendor to its customers. “Our company is a world leader in providing smart card based systems, and we believe that this alliance establishes further our leadership in the fast growing market of smart card based applications,” added Mr. Fernandez. “We already have a very successful working relationship with Datagrams in Europe. We know their products well and believe this partnership to be a great opportunity for IVI Ingenico to penetrate new markets and expand our growth in the region, while providing loyalty solutions that are not available from any other vendor.”

Bruno Zysman, President of Datagrams, commented that his alliance with Groupe Ingenico has been very successful in Europe, and that he looks forward to extending this relationship to IVI Ingenico in Latin America. “IVI Ingenico brings to us a great deal of value, including their extensive network of distributors and their years of experience in the Latin America marketplace,” added Mr. Zysman.

Datagrams S.A., based in France, is an integrator and designer of software for smart card solutions. Setting standards for the electronic purse and loyalty field, Datagrams’ expertise also includes the design of database systems, communications protocol transferring data on products and developing interactive touch screen kiosks using smart card readers.

Groupe Ingenico is engaged in the design, development and sales of secured terminals and complete systems dedicated to electronic payments, loyalty and electronic benefits transfer and is the recognized leader in smart card technology in Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific areas. Further information is available at [http//www.datagrams.com][1]. ivi ingenico inc., based in miami, florida, is a joint venture between ivi and its strategic alliance partner, groupe ingenico, of paris, france.

IVI is engaged in the design, development and sale of electronic payment solutions for retailers, financial institutions, governments and other businesses. The company’s hardware and software products include solutions for point-of-sale debit/credit/EFT/EBT terminals, check readers, smart card readers, POS printers and secure PIN entry devices. Additional company information is available on IVI’s website at .

Day Traders On-line said Monday that their senior market analyst and editor Ray Johns started First USA Paymentech, Inc with a near term bay rating and added the company to their recommended stock list. A one month price target of $21 to $22 a share was set, while longer term potential may be higher.

Key points

— On a technical trading basis, the stock has been in a nice overall uptrend since February of this year. It appears ready to break into the $20 plus trading range after a recent pull back at the beginning of April.

— First USA Paymentech is the nation’s third largest payment processor of credit cards.

— Company is likely benefiting from increased consumer confidence and spending from a strong economy. A possible ramp up in on-line Internet credit card processing and use may also help PTI’s growth and earnings over the coming quarters.

— Company recently stated that they, “hired a well-known industry expert to direct strategic long-term initiatives.” This may help them to continue to increase top and bottom line growth over the coming months. Further, the company stated that their, “focus on expense reduction is also generating results”.

— Near term price target set at $21 to $22 a share based on technical chart and company fundamentals. Price target over 6-12 months may be as high as $25 or more.

“From a technical standpoint, this looks like a trading buy to us given the recent steady uptrend. We feel the stock may provide traders with some reduced volatility in a fairly pricey market as well”, said Johns. “We would consider PTI an attractive buying opportunity at current levels of $19 to $20 a share or less (if seen) and would expect continued positive momentum over the next few months to take the stock to higher levels.” Note that Day Traders On-line and their organization engages in active short term trading and investing which may different from standard long term investment strategies. For further information on this and other short to medium term trading and investing ideas, please visit the company’s website at [http//www.daytraders.com][1] or send e-mail to [info@daytraders.com][2] For all questions & customer service needs, e-mail to [support@daytraders.com][3]

Schlumberger has joined the Global Chipcard Alliance, an organization formed to promote smart card inter-operability. Schlumberger brings a wealth of expertise in developing open standards to the alliance, to help accelerate the current industry trend towards multi-application smart cards. Schlumberger was the first in the industry to develop an open smart card platform — the JavaCard — and membership in the alliance is an extension of its commitment to standards.

![][1] “We believe the smart card industry’s future is intrinsically linked to the ability to deliver multi-application cards,” noted Jacques Cosnefroy, president, Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals. “Multi-application cards, which provide added value to the cardholder, can significantly increase consumer demand for this exciting new technology. The GCA provides a very valuable forum for working with other card manufacturers and users to ensure that smart card technologies fully meet market needs.” Schlumberger cards are being used everyday by a vast number of consumers worldwide. The company is at the forefront of multi-application card developments, with applications ranging across the spectrum of market sectors including financial cards based on the EMV specification, telecommunications cards using the SIM standard, and multi-application cards using the networking-oriented JavaCard standard.

The Global Chipcard Alliance was founded in October 1996 by US West Communications, PTT Telecom Netherlands/Unisource, GTE, Bell Canada and Telekom Malaysia. It now has nearly 20 members, committed to worldwide interoperable networks, increased chip card functionality and widespread installation of terminal systems.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals offers a flexible portfolio of smart card-based solutions for businesses and communities of all kinds. The company provides cards, terminals, development tools and support in open configurations for operators, developers, integrators and distributors worldwide. Under The Smart Village(R) brand, the Schlumberger offer includes the milestone Cyberflex(TM) card, the industry’s first Java(TM)-based smart card. The Smart Cards & Terminals group operates 45 facilities in 34 countries across the globe. Additional information is available on the World Wide Web at [http://www.slb.com/et/][2].

Bank of America will make a significant smart card announcement this morning. B of A will announce a flexible smart card technology to provide a global business solution for a wide variety of companies. Bank of America’s Smart Card Group will make the announcement at 1130am ET today.